


In which Daves an artist and John is an awkward butt

by Trashgalore



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Art AU??, Fluff, Johns a nerd, M/M, Painting au, Two boys making out, art porn, be warn, i dunno I randomly came up with this, im also terrible at writing, im trash, more tags to come, paintstuck, so much fluff your teeth will rot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-28
Updated: 2015-07-03
Packaged: 2018-04-06 17:03:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 4,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4229826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Trashgalore/pseuds/Trashgalore
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was like 3am and I was painting and then I thought "what if Dave was an artist" and then suddenly this happened</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First works are always a blast !  
> Some of the chapters will switch point of view but they'll always be second. I'll also give you a heads up which pov it is.  
> First chapters pov is Johns

You never really had an eye for art, it all looked the same to you. That is, until you met Dave Strider. Well more like wandered into his studio after seeing a painting that looked like you in his studio window. 

You timidly opened the front door, a small chime hearing over head. There was some quiet music playing, making the white space seem filled. A mop of blonde hair was bustling about in a far corner until the owner of the mop turned around with a sloppy smile on his face, 

"Sup. What brings you to my humble studio?" 

You stood there, a little dumbfounded. You looked over the man, taking in his little details. He was tall, taller than you, and scrawny. His messy blonde hair was pinned back by some aviators on top of his head, his bright red eyes glowing in the reflected light. He was wearing a white shirt and black skinny jeans with a painters apron slung around his neck. 

The man slowly approached you, an eyebrow raised, "You doin' alright over there?" There was a slight Texan accent dripping in his voice, it was a bit calming actually. "Um.. Oh yea! I'm fine." You finally snapped out of it, cheeks flushing a bit as you noticed how long you had been staring for. He smiles at you and you notice the way his eyes squint a bit and a single dimple shows on his cheek, it's kinda cute. Wait, cute? You just met this guy, you don't even know his name! How can you think he's cute!! You slowly smile back and he holds out his hand. You take it and he squeezes your hand, shaking it slightly, "Dave Strider, nice to meet you." You nod, letting go of his hand and kinda regretting it. "I'm John." You look around the vast space, looking at all the paintings and sketches littered around, "Are all these paintings yours?" He cracks a toothy smile, putting both hands on his hips, "You know it buddy, these were all done by my hand." 

You start to wander, looking at all the paintings in awe. Meanwhile, Dave is shuffling about, moving and fixing different paintings and sculptures. 

"So why'd you come into my shop, John?" You turn around, chewing a bit on your lip, "Well I saw a painting in the window and... And it kinda looked like me so I got curious and came in..." 

Dave nodded before moving over to the window, pulling out the painting in question, "This one you mean?" He takes a look at it then looks at John, "Wow what a coincidence, it totally does look like you." He puts the painting back in its place, smiling at John again, "That painting was actually of a person I saw on the streets." He looked quite wistful, "The way the sun brought out his blue eyes and made his black hair look almost navy was beautiful, I just had to paint him." Dave laughed awkwardly, waving a bit at John, "I'm sorry, I get quite into it when I'm talking about painting." You smiled, a small flush brushing your cheeks, "Don't worry about it! I find it quite interesting." 

"You're quite alright John, how 'bout you come upstairs and we can have coffee."

You seemed a little shocked, quickly shaking your head no, "Oh no I couldn't! It's getting late and I should probably head home..." He looked a little sad but still smiled, "No I understand, maybe next time." You nodded, that is if you ever come around here again, "Sure!" You waved him goodbye and left, your heart thumping in your chest. 

You didn't know what compelled you to come back, maybe it was the paintings, maybe it was Dave. Whatever it was, it needed to stop making your chest tighten every time you walked into his damn studio!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Daves pov *throws confetti up in the air*

You never really thought that the person you painted would recognize themselves and come in to question you about it, but shit was he was cuter up close. 

As soon as John had left you had to use all the self restraint you had to keep from jumping around and squealing like a middle school girl who just got her first boyfriend. You took a moment to think before heading back to your little set up in the corner and starting on a new project, tossing the current one off where all the other unfinished paintings go. 

By the time you have finished the rough sketch it was already 10 and you still hadn't closed up shop. You scurried around, putting sculptures under tarps and closing sketch books before you locked the front door and headed up to your loft. Your home was a cozy little thing, enough room to fit just about two people and a dog. You let out a sad sigh and wished for someone to be in this nearly empty space with you, then John popped up in your mind. The way his smile just lights up everything, the furrow of his brow when he's concentrating, those bright blue eyes of his. If you weren't already up in your bed you think you may have slowly slid down to the floor. 

Oh god, you're starting to act like a girl in love. This is stupid, you just met the guy and you're already in love with him! Ridiculous. You roll over in bed, facing the soft beige wall behind you. You fall asleep with John on your mind, which is quite gay if you do say so yourself. And maybe just the tiniest bit creepy if you put it in the wrong context. 

Fuck.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Johns a nerd what can you do   
> (Johns pov)

You didn't think you'd end up going back to Dave's studio. You stood outside awkwardly, watching the empty room. There was no one shuffling about or sitting at the little stools in the back corner. You chewed your lip nervously, wondering if anyone around was questioning what you were doing. You wondered if maybe you came too late, maybe he already closed up. 

Suddenly Dave was there, coming down the stairs and looking at you with a questioning look. You shyly open the door, smiling a bit. 

"Hey Dave, did I come too late?" 

You noticed a flush creep into his face as he shook his head, "Not at all! I was just upstairs grabbing so more paint." He went over to his easel, dropping a couple of the colours into a basket next to his stool. The one that remained in his hand was opened and squeezed onto his colour pallet. 

You noticed that you were staring again, quickly snapping out of it and wandering over to his art corner. There was a sketch on the canvas sitting on the easel, it was of a person and you wondered who it was meant to be. Dave seemed to be embarrassed by the sketch, putting his pallet down in his lap. 

"What do you think so far?"

You didn't know how to answer, nodding your head a bit to which Dave just laughed. You felt a little blush form on your face, shoving your hands in your pockets to keep from doing anything irrational. God was his laugh adorable. You almost hit yourself, now your entire face going red. Stop that! This is just weird. Dave laughed again, nudging you in the side, "Dude are you doin' okay? Your entire face is red and I dunno if I said something or maybe you have a dirtier mind than I originally thought."

You stop acting like a complete ding dong for once and snort at him, "What's that supposed to mean?" He wiggled his brows, giving you a sly smirk. "I dunno, you're the one who was thinking it." You scoff, pushing Dave's shoulder who just starts laughing hard. 

You smile at him, almost entranced by the sound of his laugh. He pulls over another stool and motions you to sit on it, "Why don't you watch for a bit." You can't say no, immediately taking a seat and leaning a bit close to Dave. He doesn't seem to notice as he starts on touching up his sketch. He glances your way every now and then and you just have to wonder why

The reason soon becomes clear when you realize that Dave is drawing you. All the little details in your face are noticeable in the drawing. Those small moles you have near the corner of your mouth, the crinkle of your eyebrows, it's kinda amazing. You stare in awe while Dave works away, completely blow away by his art skills. 

"Holy shit, this is awesome."

Dave smiles at you, putting down his pencil. "Thanks dude." He starts on the painting, blending colours on the pallet and dabbing them in their places on the canvas. You noticed that he was leaning forward a bit, a small crease between his brows as he drew them together. You couldn't move your eyes from his face. Soon your eyes started to wander, sinking in all his features. His perfect cheekbones, his outlined jawline, the way he nibbles on his lower lip as he concentrates, the way his neck looks long but still normal, his collarbones that peeked over the top of his shirt. 

You finally tear your eyes away from Dave, focusing on the painting. You couldn't believe yourself. You were just checking out another guy! You felt your face turn red and you try to distract yourself by cracking your knuckles and back. You hear Dave let out a small sigh, his cheeks just the slightest pink. You suddenly wonder if he noticed you staring and your body goes a bit rigid and then you begin to panic.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic just progressively gets worse and worse   
> (Johns pov)

You jerk up, the stool you were sitting on shakes a bit and almost tumbles to the floor. "I-I have to go." Dave gives you a look, setting down his paint brush is the little water bowl next to him. You can see the unhappiness in is eyes, he looked dejected, like you just ripped out his heart and crushed it. Wow now you feel like a jerk. 

He nods a little bit and looks back at his painting. "Alright then. If you come back tomorrow the painting might be finished." 

You nod once and back out of the studio, nearly sprinting down the side walk once out. Your heart was pounding and your head was spinning. You don't know what just happened but you feel like a complete asshole about it now. 

You decide to head home and just sleep. Not doing anything else or get distracted by anyone or anything or any kind of texts your friends may send you. 

You do end up going back the next day. Around noon and you brought lunch, as an apology you guess. Dave was still sitting at his easel, feet up on his stool as he focused hard on the canvas. He didn't notice when you came in, completely unaware of the bells chime. You stand awkwardly in the middle of the studio and clear your throat. 

"So I brought lunch." 

His head snaps up and he looks at you, wide eyed like you have just said the best news anyone can hear. He walks over to you and suddenly you feel small, you don't know why but he seems a little intimidating right now. You hand the bag to him and he finally cracks a smile. He takes the bag and digs in, pulling out a wrapped up sandwich and a donut. He drags you over to the painting that looks just about finished but according to Dave is no where near done. Your eyes sparkle at how amazing it looks, your jaw going slack. 

"Holy balls, this is... This is fucking amazing..." 

Dave chuckles and takes a bite out of his sandwich and god damn do you suddenly want to kiss this boy so badly. But you don't. Mostly because he has a mouth full of food and that's just weird. Also because you don't even think he's into dudes but what do you know. 

He finishes off his food and wipes his hands on his apron before he crosses his arms and give you a look. "Well since you treated me to lunch I have to return the favour. I'll close up shop early and we'll go up to my place and have some coffee. That sound alright?" You just kinda nod, actually a little excited for this.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops   
> (Daves pov)

You may or may not be freaking out just the slightest. You actually managed to invite John up for coffee without it sounding creepy in some way. 

The entire time you were finishing up your painting you couldn't help but glance back at John all the time, the look on his face while he watched you paint was so cute you just wanted to kiss him. God dammit. This was getting way to gay for your liking. Actually no you like this but you don't know how much John likes this. He seems to be checking you out every time he gets but honestly who doesn't. 

You just about fucked up as you finished off the painting, too distracted by Johns face to realize that the blue on your paint brush almost blended with his face colour. You sigh, leaning back a bit and cracking your back and knuckles. You notice John smile at the painting, his eyes sparkling with joy. 

"What d'ya think? Pretty hot stuff ain't it. I mean it's supposed to be you so of course it's gonna be hot stuff." Wow way to be smooth Dave. You internally cringe at your stupidity but lucky John just seems to play it off as a joke, laughing a bit. You laugh along with him, wiping your painted hands on a wet cloth that sat in a pocket of your apron. 

"It looks great Dave. It's like wow, that's me, that is me." 

You snort and cross your arms, giving John a look and raising your eyebrows. He smiles widely and shit. Shit shit shit shit. He should not be allowed to be this cute! You grin back, whipping John with your wet towel. "C'mon you dork, let's go have some coffee." 

You lock up the front door before dragging John up to your loft. Thankfully you cleaned it up a bit so it wasn't a giant fucking mess. John looks like a lost puppy, not knowing where he should sit or what to do. You shoo him over to the bar stools behind the elevated counter top before you get on your way to making a whole pot of coffee. 

John just stares at you with bewilderment, how cute. You serve him up a steaming cup of black coffee along with a small cup of milk and sugar which he doesn't touch. So he takes his coffee black. Nice. And then you crack the question. 

"So John, tell me about yourself." 

The usual conversation starter. He seems to ponder for a bit, looking around the room. "Well, I'm in university studying to be an engineer. I embarrassingly enough still live with my dad but he doesn't seem to mind and actually prefers I stay with him till I'm done university. I'm more single than a pringle and just a bit ready to mingle. Kinda. Last breakup was a bit rough. Let's see what else.." 

You end up staring at his face for a long while, you perk up at the single part but frown a bit at the "kinda." He doesn't seem to notice you staring off into space and he continues. 

"Unlike some people would think I am not an only child, I have two sisters and a brother. One sister is the same age as me but is off somewhere in Europe travelling. Another sister is in France, doing something with pastries I dunno, never really listening to that part at family dinner. And my brother is doing who knows what. I think he's in Australia right now running with the kangaroos or whatever Australians do." 

You laugh at him, a little intrigued by his family already. He then looks straight at you and your heart jumps, he's smiling slightly and his eyes are sparkly. "What about you Dave? Tell me about yourself." You kinda freeze, no one has ever asked you about yourself. You don't even know where to start!

"Um okay, well I'm actually not as interesting as you would think but I work as a free artist. It may seem like a boring job but it's honestly great. On good days I usually get so many people coming into my shop and sometimes I'll get someone who will pay a lot of money for one of my paintings." You look down into your coffee mug, smiling a bit. 

"What about your family?" Your smile wavers and you shrug. 

"My family is complicated. I never knew my mom and dad, from what I heard from my older brother my dad died before I was born and my mom died giving birth to me and my twin sister." You see Johns face drop and your heart drops as well. 

"But it was okay, my older brother and sister raised me and my twin. It was great, I had an awesome childhood." You sniffled a bit, remembering your family made you a little emotional. "My brother died a couple years ago and since then our family grew apart. I still talk to my twin sometimes but it's usually only on our birthday or Christmas." 

John looked as if he was going to cry and you quickly shook you head. "I'm fine though! My family is honestly great despite everything that we've had to deal with." He suddenly stands up and comes over to you, pulling you into a tight hug that took your breath away. 

"I'm sorry I asked, it wasn't my place to." 

You shook your head and pushed back a bit from John. "It's okay dude, I'm fine." That's when everything took a turn for maybe the better. John looked at you and suddenly you didn't know what to do. You were trapped in his arms and shit was he strong. You bit your lip and looked away from him, trying to avoid the awkward contact right now. But when you look back at him, he's leaning towards you and you freeze. His hand sneaks to the back of your neck and into your hair, pushing your face towards his. 

And he's kissing you.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :^)   
> (Johns pov)

Holy shit. 

Holy fucking shit. 

You're kissing him. You're kissing him and he's not pushing you away or kissing you back and you're really fucking confused to what's happening. The minute you pull back his face his beet red and you're pretty sure yours is too. He's all flustered looking and oh god is it cute. 

He makes a little noise and you step away, bumping into the counter behind you. "Shit Dave, I'm sorry. I didn't-" He looks angry but he also looks a bit happy and your mind is all jumbled up and your heart is pounding in your ears. 

"John."

His voice is calm and you're still freaking out. You swallow and you're not sure if you want to answer him or not. "Yeah?" Your voice cracked a bit as you spoke and you cringed, you sound like a thirteen year old again. He smiles and his face is still red. He covers his mouth with the back of his hand and starts laughing, looking away from you. You're even more confused than before. 

Dave is suddenly backing you up against the counter, hovering over you. You swallow thickly, not sure if you should be worried or not. And then he's kissing you. His lips were soft and warm and you feel like you could kiss them for hours. He pulls back and smiles, laughing breathlessly. 

"You're an idiot John." 

You lick your lips hungrily, wanting to kiss him more. You set your hands on his hips and quickly turn you both around so that Dave is against the counter now. He gasps and looks down at you, cheeks a bit pink and you find that adorable. You start kissing him again, soft and slow like a prom kiss and then he's pulling you forward, making little noises against your mouth. You can't resist him and you kiss him more, a little rougher. 

Just as quickly as you started, you stopped. You both looked at each other with flushed faces and awkward stares. "Well that was certainly something.." Dave huffed and you just want to slide to the floor into a puddle of sexual tension but instead leaned forward against Dave. You nodded and suddenly you just wanted to sleep, you wanted to curl up in bed with Dave beside you and sleep the rest of the day away but unfortunately someone needed your attention. Your phone chimed loudly in your back pocket. You groaned and pushed away from Dave, pulling out your phone and groaning louder at the screen. 

"I'm sorry Dave I have to go, apparently my dad almost burned down the house again." 

You get a questioning look from Dave but you dust it off, giving him a quick kiss before rushing out the door. 

Your heart was pounding and your chest felt tight. You were still all confused about the events that just went down but honestly at this point you didn't care, you finally got to kiss him and it was heavenly. Like you were on cloud nine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boy furiously making out in the kitchen.   
> My favourite :^)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why are people reading this it's trash. I'm trash.   
> (Daves pov)

This time you actually did slide to the floor. Your knees had gone weak in the middle of everything and the only thing holding you up was the counter. Everything was great, everything was fantastic. Except you didn't know what this meant for the both of you now. Is he going to ask you out? Or are you supposed to ask him out? Or was that whole thing just a spur of the moment and meant nothing to him. 

You fan yourself out on the kitchen floor, trying to cool yourself down on the cold tile. Your heart was still pounding in your ears and honestly you could go for another round of Johns lips. 

Once you're done acting like a teenage girl you grab something to munch on and head to bed. You kinda want to text John but then you realize that you don't have his number and you note to ask him if he comes around tomorrow. You also internally hit yourself for not asking earlier. 

Your sleep was smooth sailing and you wake up still not believing the events from yesterday. You decide to just head back to sleep, not feeling up to dealing with the shop or people today. That is until you hear your doorbell rang. You didn't know you had a doorbell. You also didn't know anyone knew you had a doorbell. You reluctantly roll out of bed with a blanket around your shoulders and head down the stairs and open the door to your left, the one that leads to the alleyway beside your loft. You squint your eyes at the bright light and then there's someone standing in front of you. 

"Oh did I wake you? Sorry Dave." 

You close your eyes and you're pretty sure you look like you're ready to murder someone. You grunt and recognize the voice. It was John and you honestly have no clue why he's at your house so early. "John do you know what time it is?" You open your eyes and bit and see him pulling out his phone and giving you a look. "It's 3:45 Dave." You finally open your eyes fully and stare at him in awe. You rub your face and finally you're awake. And there's John, with his goofy little smile, looking as cute as always and you pout and he gives you a look. You pull him in and push him up the stairs, tripping over your blanket a couple times before you both finally make it through your front door. You hear him laughing and you wonder what's so funny. 

"Dave your hair oh my god." 

You pout, pulling your blanket over your raging bed head. John smiles and pushes the blanket away, ruffling your hair and messing it up more. He looks so adorable and kissable and you pout more. He pouts back and you chuckle at him, using the blanket to pull him into a hug. 

"You sir are under arrest." 

"For what sir?" You can hear the laughter in his voice which makes you smile. 

"For being fucking adorable." You both laugh and you nuzzle into his neck, smiling at the warmth. That's when you realize that John might not be so comfortable with this and you immediately pull away. There's a blush on his face and he looks confused, which looks adorable on him. "You okay, Dave?" You frown and capture him in a hug again to which he exclaims in surprise and hugs you back. 

"It's not fair."

"What isn't fair?"

"How adorable you are!" He chuckles in your ear and you basically melt into his arms. He pats your messy hair and gives you a little kiss on the forehead. 

"So I wanted to ask you something..." 

"What is it?" You can feel your heartbeat speeding up and you're getting way too nervous for this. 

"Do you wanna, I dunno, go out for dinner sometime? Like... On a date?" Your heart skipped a beat and instantly you felt like this was all a dream. You shrug, probably the least informative way of answering something ever. "Sure why not." You feel him hug you tighter which is a bit uncomfortable for you so you push away from him a bit and he lets go. He looks upset like he did something wrong but you peck him on the lips and he smiles again and you can't help but kiss him again. That adorable face of his was too cute to not kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow I suck at writing :^)


End file.
